Business Spotlight: Twinsburg woman enters arts scene with Paper Cutz

by Conner Howard | Reporter

Thursday

Apr 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Twinsburg -- Using the printed words and images of the past to recreate iconic Cleveland landmarks and more, one city resident and her business partner have launched a collage art business from their homes.

Offering a variety of vintage collage art, including depictions of Cleveland skylines, paper flower bouquets, hand-carved books and more, Paper Cutz has been a hit with Cleveland-area art enthusiasts, according to co-owner and Lake Plata resident Cathy Strauss.

Along with artist Shari Escott, of Chagrin Falls, Strauss began Paper Cutz in November 2013 at the Cleveland Flea arts show to enthusiastic sales and responses.

"We noticed in one of our first shows we had a Cleveland skyline original and it sold within the first five minutes," Strauss said. "We had the prints and we sold out of those. That's kind of how it all started. Shari has made five or six since then and they all seem to sell right away at the different shows. She decided to take Cleveland a little further, so she did the landmark [print]. We noticed that people love stuff about Cleveland. It sells, so I know she's going to be working on more."

Strauss handles the business and marketing of Paper Cutz, while Escott crafts the products using vintage print work, including newspaper stories and advertisements. Cleveland-inspired artwork, while popular, is only a portion of what Paper Cutz offers.

"[Escott] also does different whimsical stuff but it is fun to tie a lot of it into Cleveland, because we noticed that's what people get the most excited about," Strauss said.

Strauss added that although Paper Cutz does not yet offer Twinsburg-inspired artwork, she and Escott are interested in "eventually" using the city and other Cleveland-area suburbs as art subjects.

As the co-owners have full-time jobs outside of Paper Cutz, Strauss said the art business is a fun, creative outlet she and Escott use for side revenue, though she didn't expect the positive reaction she has seen so far from customers and neighbors.

"It's been a good all over," Strauss said. "It truly started off with having fun making fun art and seeing other people like it. It wasn't about the money. This is what we do on the side ... but it's really taking off and people love it."

Paper Cutz products are available at www.papercutz.co, under the "shop" tab.